Because the 118th Congress began last year, some bills may be tabled in committee. Select a bill that has been introduced in the last 2 months, not one introduced early last year that has stalled or already become law.
Please introduce the Florida (only during spring semesters) or federal bill (House of Representatives or Senate, or companion bills introduced in both) you have selected to explore this semester. Make sure it is a bill in the 118th Congress or U.S. Senate or, in spring, the Florida legislative session, that it has recently been introduced and that you want to support or oppose it.
Provide the formal name and bill number (both houses if appropriate if there are companion bills in each) with link(s),
Its sponsor(s)
For those who have signed on to the bill as additional supporters, how many and what do they have in common
The bill’s status at this time (what committee(s) is it in, has it passed out of any or all its assigned committees, is it being heard on the house or senate floor and when
Describe the main components of the legislation and
Share your rationale for selecting this policy.
See the Assignment or Sylabus page in the navigation board for the deadline for your original post. Your response post to 1 other student’s discussion is due 48 hours later. No late posts are accepted. Once the discussion board is closed no one is going back to discuss anything with you.
Here is an example post:
I chose H.R.3646- Menstrual Equity For All Act https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3646Links to an external site.. The bill was introduced by Representative Grace Meng of New York, District 6 113th-118th. There are 84 co-sponsors of the bill who are all Democrats and the majority are female (GovTrack.us, 2024a).
There is a related bill; H.R.4475 – Period PROUD (Providing Resources for Our Underserved and Disadvantaged) Act of 2023 https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4475Links to an external site.. Representative Sean Casten of Illinois, District 6 116th-118th introduced this bill. It has 24 cosponsors again all democrats and mostly female (GovTrack.us, 2024b).
There are 7 committees involved with this bill. They include: House – Education and the Workforce, Judiciary, Financial Services, Energy and Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means and Budget. None have met to discuss the bill.
The legislation broadens the availability of menstruation products through government initiatives, for women in certain areas and specific demographics. It prevents states and municipalities from imposing taxes on the retail sales of certain menstruation products.
The measure mandates that Medicaid provide coverage for a wider variety of menstruation products, thus increasing accessibility to these items (GovTrack.us, 2024a).
It mandates the provision of free sanitary napkins and tampons in federal and state correctional institutions, to those experiencing homelessness. The law also creates a grant program to assist in the distribution of free sanitary napkins and tampons at higher education campuses, and additionally middle and high schools. The legislation would mandate to provide sanitary products in public toilets inside government buildings. Also companies with a minimum of 100 workers must provide complimentary sanitary napkins and tampons to their staff (GovTrack.us, 2024b).
The reason I selected this bill was because recently at a conference where this topic was presented. Prior to this I was uneducated on the disparities related to women who do not have access to essential needs such as feminine hygiene products. I was astounded that something I took for granted was not readily attainable to all. I was appalled to discover that in correctional institutions sanitary products are denied and withheld from inmates. Often used by guards as a form of power and control over the inmates. Children attending school did not have access to hygiene products particularly in middle and high school settings.
Although I do not agree with all aspects of this bill, I certainly believe that gender discrimination exists when a necessary commodity for women is taxed at a higher rate. Feminine hygiene products are considered tangible individual property which incur a higher tax making them less accessible to lower income women (Alliance for Period Supplies, 2024).
References
Alliance for Period Supplies. (2024, May 14). Tampon tax – alliance for period supplies. Alliance for Period Supplies – It’s That Time. https://allianceforperiodsupplies.org/tampon-tax/
GovTrack.us. (2024a). H.R.3646- Menstrual Equity For All Act. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3646
GovTrack.us. (2024b). H.R.4475 – Period PROUD (Providing Resources for Our Underserved and Disadvantaged) Act of 2023 retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/4475
